Sliding door for railroad freight car



Aug. 29, 1967 F. TAYLOR 3,337,995

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NVENTR.V y F. 7A n o/z BY 4 TTONYS United States Patent Office 3,337,995 Patented Aug. 29, 1967 3,337,995 SLIDING DOOR FOR RAILROAD FREIGHT CAR Frank Taylor, 273 Eleanor Ave., Otterburn Heights, Quebec, Canada Filed Oct. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 406,771 3 Claims. (Cl. 49-426) This invention relates to a railway freight or box car and, more particularly, to an improved sliding door for such a car.

A conventional freight car sliding door is positioned, for sliding movement, on a lower door track. The door rests on the lower door track when stationary and is lifted from the lower door track, by means of a lever, on to rollers for movement into an open or closed position. The conventional doors embody horizontal corrugations, or a-re constructed from horizontal metal pressings, to withstand bending forces. When the door is in the closed position, vertical members forming the front and back edges of the door engage with vertical pressed steel members on the car body, thus fully supporting the front and back door edges and allowing the horizontal corrugations or pressings -to develop their full bending strength. However, when the door is partly, or fully open, the door lacks the vertical support from the vertical pressed steel members of the car body, and thus the horizontal corrugations or pressings lose practically all of their strength and the door is highly subject Ito outward or inward deformation. This deforlmation frequently occurs during loading or unloading operations by mechanized vehicles, such as forklift trucks, etc.

The mating vertical closing edges of the door and car body are in the form of abutting tapered surfaces which provide an effective seal when the vdoor is fully closed. However, the effectiveness yof -the seal depends upon complete contact between the abutting tapered surfaces and this, in turn, depends upon true alignment between the front and back vertical members of the door and the corresponding vertical pressed steel members on the car body. Thus any deformation of the door prevents the proper mating of these abutting surfaces and the sliding door cannot be fully closed.

These conventional doors will, therefore, only function reasonably well if all members are in proper alignment and do not suffer general or localized deformation.

The lower door track, upon which the sliding door rests or rolls, is formed of rolled steel angle and is fastened by brackets to the side sill of the car body. This lower door tra-ck is another major contributor to the malfunction of a conventional sliding door as it is located in a completely unprotected area and is subject to knocks and bumps in the course of normal loading operations, particularly when freight cars are parked at loading docks where mechanized vehicles are employed. Deformation of the downward ange of the lower d-oor track prevents passage of the bottom door guides, during opening or closing movement, and jamming of the door frequently occurs. Also the lower track becomes covered with snow, ice, and sweepings from the car floor, providing further obstructions to cause jamming of the door. Jammed doors require the use of crowbars, etc., to lever the doors to open or closed positions.

The lower door track and upper door guide contain indentations which provide a clamping effect on the door in the closed position. Thus final closing and initial opening movements of the door require the use of large forces and these forces are obtained by the use of lever arrangements position on the door closing edge.

The components for the lifting lever and roller arrangement, used for opening and closing the door, are located along the lower edge of the sliding door. These component-s are enclosed in separate housings or a continuous box section and become, after a period of service, vulnerable to the elements, such as rain and snow. Thus, these components frequently 'become clogged and rusted and free rolling movement of the door is prevented. Enclosure of these components in separate housings, or continuous box sections, make it necessary for complete disassembly of such housings, `or box sections to provide access to the roller components to make the necessary repairs or renewlals. Such service operations are inconvenient and cost y.

The above mentioned disadvantages, and combinations thereof, result in very few conventional freight cars having doors which are free rolling to the extent that one man can operate the doors unassisted.

During opening or closing movement of the door the lifting lever must be continually held in the actuating position because, when the lever is released, the door is again lowered to rest on the door track. Thus when the door is left in an open position after unloading of the freight car it remains stationary, in this open position, leaving the interior of the car open to the elements.

A further disadvantage of conventional doors is that the methods of construction usually involve many lineal feet of riveted or welded overlapped seams. This invites the ingress of moisture with fthe consequent formation of corrosion and, after a period of years, extensive repairs are necessary.

Thus, in conventional freight car sliding doors, it is virtually impossible to provide an effective closed seal against the elements. Such an effective seal depends upon perfect alignment of the front and rear vertical closures which, from a practical standpoint, is diicult to obtain in freight car construction and, even when this sealing alignment is initially obtained, it is soon destroyed after the car has been in use for a period, due to the distorting forces encountered on the door and framing members.

Conventional designs are, therefore, not weather tight and to improve this condition it is common practice for railway personnel to cooper the front, back, and edges of the sliding doors with kraft paper to make them weather tight and fthus avoid claims from `customers for water-damaged commodities.

The present invention overcomes the aforementioned numerous disadvantages of conventional sliding doors by providing an improved railway freight car sliding door in which the door is suspended from overhead weathertions, to enable the door to develop its full bending strength in the fully closed, or fully open positions, or any position therebetween.

Another feature of this invention is the provision of improved front and back door edge seals. The seals are made of an elastomer, such as neoprene, and .allow door edge angular misalignments and other door edge distortions, without losing the effectiveness of the sealing elements.

It is, therefore, the main object of the present invention to provide a new and improved railway freight car sliding door in which the door is suspended from rollers mounted on an overhead track to facilitate the opening and closing of the door, -combined with a door construction embodying vertical corrugations, and fully supported along top and bottom edges in all door positions, to enable the door to develop its full bending strength in any position of operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sliding door in which the overhead roller and track arrangement is protected from Ydirect exposure to the weather.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sliding door in which the roller and track arrangement -is positioned to be free from mechanical damage by forklift trucks and the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sliding door in which the roller components are readily accessible for inspection, cleaning or repair, when the door is removed from the car.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sliding door embodying an improved vertical edge closing seal made from an elastomer, to obtain effective weather tight sealing at all times.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a freight car sliding door which can be unlatched and opened by a person inside the car.

Another Vobject of the present invention is to provide a freight car sliding door which eliminates the vulnerable bottom door track embodied in conventional freight car doors and replaces this track with a simple lower door guide of rigid section.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sliding door which is free to be moved to a fully closed position, and to latch shut, by a longitudinal impact during shunting or other movements of the freight car.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be further apparent by reference to the following detailed specification and figures, in which:

FIG. l is a front view in elevation of a sliding door accordingrto this invention, together with that portion of the sidewall of the freight car to which the door and its accessories are attached.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the car door the line 2 2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the door taken along the line 3 3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section, similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, but showing the sliding door in its fully open position.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 5 5 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section taken along the line 6 6 in FIG. l.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective View of the car door and side wall and showing the locking device.

The embodiment as shown in the drawings comprises a door 10 mounted vertically and slidably against a side wall 11 of a freight or box car. Door 10 consists of a rectangular vertically corrugated panel 12 bounded at front and back vertical edges by box section end bars 13 (see FIGS. 2and 3). The lower edge of panel 12 carries a horizontal channel 14 (see FIG. 5) while the upper edge of the door is bounded by a horizontal Z bar 15 (see FIG. 6). The corrugations of panel 12 consist of angular ridges 16 and troughs 17 running vertically as seen in FIG. 1.

Horizontal Z bar 15 at the top of panel 12 has one of its flanges 15a extending downwardly to lie against ridges 16 on the outer face of panel 12. The central portion 15b, of Z bar 15, lies against the upper edge of panel 12, while the other flange 15a` is upstanding and flush with the inner surface of panel 12. Two stub shafts 18 are mounted on upstanding flange 15C, of Z bar 15, and project towards wall 11 of the car. Shafts 18 carry a pair of rollers 19, one roller journalled (preferably by heavy duty ball bearings with sealed lubrication) on each of theshafts 18. Rollers 19 are thus positioned to bear on a plane normal to the plane of panel 12 and adjacent its inner surface.

A rectangular door opening in side wall 11 of the freight 'car is designated by numeral 20. The vertical front and back edges 20a and 20b, respectively, of'opening 20, are formed by angle bars 21. The bottom edge 20c'of opening 20, is formed by threshold plate 22 and is co-extensive with the floor of the car. The upper edge 20d of opening 20, is formed by the lower surface of horizontal track 23 which is in the form of an angle bar taken along and is attached to downwardly extending flange 24a of top chord 24.

The unattached flange of track 23 extends outwardly normal to top chord flange 24a and forms the bearing surface upon which rollers 19 operate, and'thus from which door 10 is suspended.

Above track 23 a Z bar 27 is secured to flange 24a, of top chord 24, by an upstanding flange 27a, the central portion 27 b projecting outwardly and the other flange 27C projecting downwardly to overlap flange 15C, of Z bar 15, and forming a hood covering flange 15C, shafts 18, rollers 19, and track 23. Upstanding flange 27a extends upwardly beyond flange 24b, of top chord 24, and provides a watershed channel for directing rain, etc., away from the door opening and the roller mechanism.

As mentioned previously, the lower edge of panel 12 carries a channel 14. This channel is positioned with its flanges upstanding, one flange 14a laying against ridges 16 on the outer face of panel 12 and the other flange 14b being inwardly spaced from the inner face of panel 12. Spaced below the lower edge 20c of opening 20, a horizontally disposed guide rail 28, in the form of an inverted channel, is fixed to other flange 23h is so disposed that it overlaps flange 14b of channel 14, as shown in FIG. 5. Threshold plate 22 is positioned above, and rigidly welded to, guide rail 28, thus forming an extremely rigid box section capable of withstanding tremendous shock forces without distortion. Threshold plate 22 also provides a cover to prevent ice, snow, or sweepngs from the car floor, accumulating on guide rail 28 and hindering the free operation of the door.

To seal the trough of channel 14 from direct inflow of water or snow, outwardly sloping watershed strips 30 are positioned in each trough 17 of panel'12, close to the free edge of flange 14a of channel 14.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 to 4, vertical sealing strips 31 are located adjacent the vertical front and rear edges of door 10. Each strip 31 consists of a length of cornpressible material, such as foamed neoprene and is securely located in a clip 32 which is fixed to an angle.

bar 33 mounted on box section end bar 13.

Although strips 31 are securely located in clips 32 they may be easily removed for replacement purposes. Strip 31, positioned at the front edge of the door, can be removed from front clip 32 by prising out sideways. Strip 31, positioned at the rear edge of the door, can be removed by sliding downwardly and out from the lower end of rear clip 32 when the door is in the open position, guide rail 28 finishing Vshort of lower end stop 54 and providing a gap for this purpose (see FIG. l). The lower end of rear clip 32 may be crimped to provide additional security for rear strip 31.

A vertically disposed front sealing flange 34 is mounted on the outer surface of side wall 11, adjacent front edge 20a of opening 20, and includes a face 35 against which front sealing strip 31 bears, in sealing contact, when door 10 is closed. Face 35 `is recessed at its outer portion 35a to provide protection for seal strip 31 when the door is fully closed and to -provide a buffer to limit the compression of strip 31.,Webs 35h provide reinforcement of flange 34. A vertically disposed rear sealing flange 36, in the form of an angle bar mounted on the outer surface of side wall 11 adjacent the rear edge 20b, provides a face 37 against which rear sealing strip 31 bears, in sealing contact, when door 10 is closed.

Referring particularly to FIG. 4, it is clearly seen that in the fully open position of door 10 front sealing strip Y 31 lies beyond rear edge 201; and will thus not be damaged by forklift trucks, etc., during loading operations. Also, when door 10 is fully open, a clearance is maintained -between angle bar 33 and rear sealing flange 36.l

FIG. 7 shows in detail a gravity type door lock 38 which facilitates automatic latching of door 10I in the fully closed position. Lock 38 is set in one of the troughs side wall 11 by one flange 28a. Thel fully Y 17 of panel 12 and consists of a vertically disposed lock handle 39 having an outwardly disposed central hand gripping portion 40. The upper end of handle 39 is slidable between a pair of blocks 41 mounted in trough 17 beneath a pocket 42 formed in the inner surface of panel 12. Handle 39 extends into pocket 42 and terminates in an upper hand gripping portion 43 which enables door to 4be opened from inside the freight ca r. This will enable an operator loading the car to open the opposite sliding door, from the inside of the car, to provide more room for manoeuvering his forklift truck, and for additional air circulation, etc. It will also prevent a person -being trapped inside the car.

The lower end of handle 39 extends through a slot 44 in a ilat sealing plate 45, which replaces watershed strip 30 in that particular trough. The lower portion of handle 39 extends through a slot 46 in channel 14 and terminates in a free end 47 projecting below channel 14. A latch plate 48 is xed to side wall 11 below lower edge 20c of opening 20 and has an outwardly projecting flange 49 sloped laterally to provide a cam surface up which the lower free end 47 of handle 39 will ride when door 10 is being closed. When door 10 is fully closed, handle 39 drops ofi the upper end of flange 49 and free end 47 latches laterally against it, compressing sealing strips 31 against sealing faces 35 and 37. Handles 50, placed on either side and above lock 38 on panel 12, facilitate manual operation of door 10.

Stop lug 51 is welded to handle 39 and is positioned to limit the downward movement of handle 39. Seal lug 52 is welded to sealing plate 45 and trough 17 .and is positioned adjacent stop lug 51 such that, when handle 39 is fully latched and stop lug 51 is contacting sealing plate 4S, holes 53 and 53a in stop lug 48 are aligned with similar holes in seal lug 52 and thus can be used for custom bonding seals, etc.

Removable end stops -54 `are located on side wall 11 at the end of track 26, and close to the end of guide rail 28, remote from opening 20. End stops 54 limit the opening movement of door 10.

In the operation of the device, door 10 is closed by moving it to the left as viewed in FIG. 1. The door moves on Arollers 19 along track 23 and is prevented from swinging outwardly in its lower portion by the sliding interaction between channel 14 and guide rail 2S. As door 10 approaches its closed position, handle 39 rides upwardly by the cam action of ange 49 on latch 48. Door 10 is fully closed when sealing strips 31 are compressed against their sealing faces 35 and 37, at which point end 47 of handle 39 drops over the end of flange 49 on latch 48 and bears laterally against it, keeping strips 31 in compression and effectively sealing the gap between the vertical sides of the door and opening 20 in the box car. Also the gap between the top of door 10 and side wall 11 of the ca-r, together with the roller and track arrangement, is protected by Z bar 27.

To open door 10, handle 39 is raised by gripping portion 46 and the door is moved to the right manually by means of handles 50 until right-hand angle bar 33 (see FIG. 3) abuts against end stops 54, at which point the door is in a fully opened position. Due to its ball bearing mounting, door 10 is easily moved -by one man and, even when outwardly or otherwise deformed, door 10 will still 'be freely moveable and will provide effective weather tight sealing, since the transfer of forces from the door to the car Ibody takes place in non-critical areas.

To remove the door from the side of the car for inspection, cleaning, or repair of the components, end stops 54 are detached from wall 11 and left-hand angle bar 33 is removed from door 10.

It will be appreciated that, since door 10 is freely movable along track 23, normal fore-and-aft bumping of the car in normal handling will cause an open door to close because of the inertia of the door and the ldoor will automatically lock in the fully closed position when handle 39 drops over the end of flange 49. Thus all problems encountered when freight cars move with open doors are eliminated in this invention.

It should be noted that the construction according to the invention provides a rigid reinforcement circumscribing opening 20 in side wall 11 and also circumscribing door 10, thus holding them in square alignment for proper functioning and preventing fracture at door post junctions. The vertical corrugations in panel 12 further increase the strength of door 10 since they are axial to the applied stress. Furthermore, Z lbar 15 and channel 14 distribute the load effectively across panel 12.

It will be understood that while the door construction described in this specification embodies vertical corrugations other forms of construction could equally well be used, such as vertically aligned top-hat or open-'box section metal pressings, aluminum box section, or other, extrusions, etc., in fact any type of reinforced door construction which develops its full bending strength when not engaged with the front and 'back edges of the door opening.

It will also be understood that a sliding door, according to this invention, will be positioned on each side of a freight car body, and that the unique features of this invention can be equally well applied to the construction of double sliding doors.

The advantages of a freight car sliding door according to this invention, over conventional freight car sliding doors, can be summed up as follows:

(a) A considerably stronger door is provided, with no increase in weight.

(b) Due to the ball bearing mounting the door is free rolling and can be moved with one hand.

(c) The roller components are positively protected against the weather despite any door distortion.

(d) Shock loads on the door are transferred, through the upper Z bar 27 and lower channel 14, to non-critical a-reas of the car body and thus the door is not as subject to crippling damage.

(e) The door automatically slides and latches shut during service.

(f) Less hardware is required, such as handles, levers, etc., to move and latch the door.

(g) Roller and operating components are more accessible.

(h) Door can be unlatched from inside the car.

(i) Construction of the door makes it less subject to corrosion.

It should be further understood that seal strips 31 are shown. positioned in accordance with the preferred execution of this invention and that other seal strip positions could equally well be selected within the scope of this invention such as the positioning of front seal strip 31 directly on the front edge of the door.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway freight car-having an opening in a wall thereof and including a slidable door adapted to close said opening, a substantially horizontal track rigidly attached to said wall above the opening therein, said slidable door depending from roller means positioned adjacent the upper edge thereof, sai-d rolle-r means adapted upon lateral movement of said door to travel along said track with the door depending therefrom to uncover or close said opening, said door embodying vertical stiifening corrugations extending substantially across the width thereof, the upper and lower edges of said door slidably engaging continuous upper and lower edge supporting means, respectively, attached to said wall to enable said door stiifening corrugations to Ibe equally elfective when said door is positioned to close or to uncover said opening or in any position therebetween, said upper edge supporting means including a substantially horizontal Z-bar, one ange of said Z-bar being rigidly attached to said wall above the opening therein, the intermediate ange and the other flange of said Z-bar extending outwardly and downwardly to cover said roller means and to provide vertically disposed mem-bers on. the side of the freight support for the upper edge of said door, said -lower edge car when the door is in the closed position. supporting means including a substantially horizontal t guide v-rail fixed to said wall below the opening therein, References Cited said'door having continuous guide means adjacent its 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS lower edge adapted upon lateral movement of said door to slidably engage with said guide rail, and latch means glemmons "zgg for automatically locking said door in the closed posi- 2109515 3/1938 ssg 6 22 tion, the said latch means adapted to close automatically 2167707 8/1939 B as erg "l5 9 X when the said door means is moved to said closed posi- 10 2447846 8/1948 Dlislel- 20 l 22 tion, a portion of the said latch means extending into the 2580804 1/1952 M1 ed 20 22 interior of the freight car to permit operation of the latch 2715539 8 1955 a an "9 means from both inside and outside the car. Spence 2 2 189 2. The railway freight car as set forth in claim 1 in FOREIGN PATENTS which the said door embodies continuous horizontal up- 15 651,150 12/1946 Denmark per and lower members and the said vertical stitening 398 489 9/1933 Great Britain corrugations extend to and are secured to the said continuoos horizontal upper and lower mombors- DAVID J. wILLIAMowsKY, Primm Examiner.

3. The Irailway freight car as set forth Iin claim 1 in which the said door includes door sealing means attached 20 HARRISON R' MOSELEY KENNETH DOWNEY to the vertical side edges thereof adapted to engage with Exminers' 

1. IN A RAILWAY FREIGHT CAR HAVING AN OPENING IN A WALL THEREOF AND INCLUDING A SLIDABLE DOOR ADAPTED TO CLOSE SAID OPENING, A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL TRACK RIGIDLY ATTACHED TO SAID WALL ABOVE THE OPENING THEREIN, SAID SLIDABLE DOOR DEPENDING FROM ROOLER MEANS POSITIONED ADJACENT THE UPPER EDGE THEREOF, SAID ROLLER MEANS ADAPTED UPON LATERAL MOVEMENT OF SAID DOOR TO TRAVEL ALONG SAID TRACK WITH THE DOOR DEPENDING THEREFROM TO UNCOVER OR CLOSE SAID OPENING, SAID DOOR EMBODYING VERTICAL STIFFENING CORRUGATIONS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY ACROSS THE WIDTH THEREOF, THE UPPER AND LOWER EDGES OF SAID DOOR SLIDABLY ENGAGING CONTINUOUS UPPER AND LOWER EDGE SUPPORTING MEANS, RESPECTIVELY, ATTACHED TO SAID WALL TO ENABLE SAID DOOR STIFFENING CORRUGATIONS TO BE EQUALLY EFFECTIVE WHEN SAID DOOR IS POSITIONED TO CLOSE OR TO UNCOVER SAID OPENING OR IN ANY POSITION THEREBETWEEN, SAID UPPER EDGE SUPPORTING MEANS INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL Z-BAR, ONE FLANGE OF SAID Z-BAR BEING RIGIDLY ATTACHED TO SAID WALL ABOVE THE OPENING THEREIN, THE INTERMEDIATE FLANGE AND THE OTHER FLANGE OF SAID Z-BAR EXTENDING OUTWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY TO COVER SAID ROLLER MEANS AND TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR UPPER EDGE OF SAID DOOR, SAID LOWER EDGE SUPPORTING MEANS INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL GUIDE RAIL FIXED TO SAID WALL BELOW THE OPENING THEREIN, SAID DOOR HAVING CONTINUOUS GUIDE MEANS ADJACENT ITS LOWER EDGE ADAPTED UPON LATERAL MOVEMENT OF SAID DOOR TO SLIDABLY ENGAGE WITH SAID GUIDE RAIL, AND LATCH MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY LOCKING SAID DOOR IN THE CLOSED POSI- 